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Saturday, August 1, 2015

This story is not a sequel to Mr. Mercedes. It runs parallel to the world created in the first Bill Hodges novel. You could read this novel without reading Mr. Mercedes because the first half of this novel begins with a new crime and a new set of characters. Hodges and his merry band of investigators do not show up until the end of Act II and then play a predominate role in Act III. Which is what makes this novel a bit of a head-scratcher.

The initial crime (a famous writer murdered and his secret novels stolen) and the serendipitous discovery of the stolen work by a 13 year old whose family is on tough times is an interesting hook. The story really gets rolling when Morris Bellamy, the criminal, comes after Pete Saubers, the lucky treasure hunter. Unfortunately Hodges connection to the crime is tenuous at best and outright forced at worst. It seems King might have had a great idea for a novella and then forced in Hodges and Mr. Mercedes in order to connect to a larger story arc.

Also there a moments of this novel that seem repetitious from other King novels. While Bellamy is in jail for an unrelated crime you find King plagiarizing himself as some of the prison scenes seemed to be lifted right our of his novella "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption."

The highlight of the novel is the teaser peaks into what should be an interesting conclusion to this series as Hodges begins to find evidence that the mentally injured Brady Hartfield (Mr. Mercedes) may not be as damaged as diagnosed, and worse, he may have picked up some telepathic powers along the way.

End of Watch will finish this series and hopefully we will see a more cohesive story that ties together all of the important characters of the first two novels in a more meaningful way.

Saturday, July 18, 2015

The writer's job is to go out into the world, record what they can and then do their best to share it with the reader. Tartt does a wonderful job of taking her audience into the world of art crimes, loss, furniture restoration, drug addiction, mistaken love and redemption.

Theo, the protagonist, spends much of the novel trying to put back the pieces of his life that were blown apart by a terrorists bomb. The cast of characters are never flat, they live in a world Tartt has worked hard to give three dimensions. The reader will appreciate the time and craft she gives to making each character someone you cheer for or against.

It is a book that I could not put down and found to be engaging from the first page to the last.

We make hundreds of decisions everyday. Our morals and ethics guide us, the voice of our conscience. But sometimes we travel down a dark path when we make the wrong decisions for the right reasons. That is the heart of the moral and ethical dilemna in The Light Between Oceans.

The uniqueness of this novel comes from the creation of sympathetic characters by author M.L. Stedman. As the story unfolds, Tom and Isabel Sherbourne, shattered by war and three miscarriages, are given a miraculous gift from the waves of the ocean. Their decisions from that point on lead to a heart wrenching story that will haunt you long after you close the book.

Vanderpool creates an updated version of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. Updating the story to take in the special bond between two boys lost in a Maine military school due to deaths in the family.

Early Auden and Jack Baker form an unlikely friendship after Jack's military father drops Jack off in the Maine woods after Jack's mother dies. Amidst the rigor and structure of military school Jack is drawn to Early, a boy who is allowed to live outside the military routine. Soon Jack and Early are on their way, in search of a monster bear terrorizing the towns around the school.

Their journey forces them to confront pirates, slavery, and the losses that torture them both. Vanderpool creates memorable characters that make us which we were twelve again so that we could travel with them down the river, experiencing the world with awe and wonder.

Have you ever had a lucky shirt? A lucky seat where you watched all of your team's games? Ever believed something strange because you were unsure if the speaker was honest?

The old saying is true: "We do not see the world as it is, we see the world as we are." So who are we? Well we are mostly the same, trapped in our own heads, modifying our memories and actions to support our ideology.

David McRaney presents a straightforward, easy to read and understand little book about how our mind tries to make order out of the chaotic randomness of our existence on this rock.

Big Little Lies begins with a death, and even though we know that is the end, the entire narrative captures the reader in a web of ethics and morality.

The story revolved around spousal abuse, helicopter parents, bullying, infidelity, parenting, murder and friendship. Moriarty layers all of these themes in a well told tale about the parents supporting the Kindergarten class at Pirriwee Public School.